Easy peasy (Source: Ripple Foods)
Peas are a buzzy alternative protein, but one supplier says bad weather may cause a price hike ultimately shouldered by consumers.
Roquette Freres is a French vegetable processing company that supplies, among other things, pea protein. It says bad weather and low yields in Europe, combined with a drought in Canada, have:
- Reduced the pea supply by 45%
- Caused prices to increase 120% from last year
Roquette thinks the “dramatic increase in prices will inevitably lead to costs being transferred to customers.”
At the same time, the demand for plant-based and alternative proteins has increased. A recent study suggests alternative proteins could account for 11% of the global protein market by 2035, compared to 2% in 2020.
Milk is one of the most popular uses for pea protein
Its market value was $122.9m globally in 2019, and it’s expected to reach $251.2m by 2027, per Allied Market Research.
Meanwhile, Ripple Foods, a frontrunner in the pea-based dairy industry, just raised $60m in Series E to expand, per Bloomberg.
What exactly is pea milk anyhow?
You don’t get pea milk by mashing a bunch of peas.
As journalist Larissa Zimberoff explains in her book, Technically Food, the peas are first shipped to a manufacturing plant — often in China.
There, the molecules are split into protein, fiber, and starch. So what pea milk is actually made from is a pea protein isolate powder.
You’ll probably be really popular at parties if you share that factoid.
